Broken Strides On Crazy Paths
by persobn
Summary: Sakazuki D. Tanuki's strides on her crazy path are broken and breaking. Between losing her crew mates and her missing brothers, few can actually get close enough to her to help hold the pieces together. How far will those strides actually carry her?
1. True Fear

Cannons firings, bullets whizzing past our heads, & the wood of my ship exploding with splinters of wood covering the deck. Haimei, Muton, Kinami & Tanker were fighting all out in their Zoan forms.  
Muton hadn't yet summoned another dragon, only Tanker, even though he is always out and about. My crew and I covered in a variety of blood. We all are battered and beat up, almost ready to drop dead. Muton lands in a hybrid form and smirks.  
"This is almost like your bootcamp training, Tanu-chou." I sigh then smirk and lean my head back.

"Only with a few more casualties. Tell everyone to be safe 'cause I'm am ping up my bootcamp now." She licks her lips and takes off while a maniacal laughter echoes throughout the fog from our hidden reaper. From my peripheral, I see a large spider, with a monkey and a rat following close behind, climbing the unknown ships side.  
'Knowing Zero, Kagashima and Frolar they are planting bombs and pissing on the food...' I smirk and lift my bloodied arm to point at the long haired blond.  
"To the depths of hell and to all that stands between; we are not going to die today!" He charges with his gauntlet scythed spiraling. I duck through his chap clad legs, he spins for a quick second shot but I jump and avoid the blades and their spiraling. He grunts and starts carelessly swinging his arms at me, in which I keep backing up and dodging.

"Stand still, so I can kill you!" I stop and grab his blades, stopping them from spinning.

"You are on MY ship, fighting ME and MY crew but you have the nerve to order ME around? You must have some big balls, Woman!" The blades try harder to spin and start to dig grooves in my hands. He growls and attempts to kick me.

"Not a woman." I let go of his blades and dodge with a scoff.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Killer's the name women ain't my game. Sounds like someone's in denial to m-!" I move to the side of a scythe and end up forgetting about the hand attached to it.  
He punched me then kicks me in the stomach; Muton swoops down and takes the landing for me. I look up at her dragon eyes and grin.  
"You have very pretty eyes!" She shakes her head and rolls her eyes while Haimei runs over.

"Haimei, she's hitting on Muton again." He looks at Kinami who, as usual, appears out of nowhere, and huffs with his hands on his hips.

"Yeah yeah, I know. What the hell do you think you're doing?! You're only eleven! Don't piss off the lady with scythes attached to her hands! Do you honestly have a thing for women, if so you're never meeting my wife and daughter." I struggle up and grin wider at him.

"_**He**_ claims to be a man and no I'm not attracted to women. I just have that condition called Bestfriend, and it has a lot of symptoms and not a lot of cures. As to what I'm doing, I'm going to go down like my brothers would." I stand and Haimei throws his hands up and runs off in his six foot tall Kakapoo form, which he somehow magically uses his sword.  
Muton stands with a look that is conflicted between feeling touched or creeped out. I search the fog for the blond, and spot him beside my cabin overlooking the brutal brawls. I sneak closer to the cherry red room and launch at the blond, sending us cascading to the deck. He angles us so I hit the floor instead.

When I hit I spit up some blood and kick him over me then stand up. Apparently my head is bleeding because it runs into my right eye, thankfully I'm left eyed, right handed, and left legged-I'm talented. I don't see him so I rely on my temptation skills.  
"C'mon! Prove to me that you're man enough to fight me!" I spy a glare of metal and the buzzing noise closes in. I dodge his barrage of swipes and decide to take a cheap shot. With a swipe of my leg and the heel of my foot digging forcefully into the genitalia of the masked pest. He skids across the deck and lays there for a minute.

"... Cheap... Shot..." I grin and shrug.

"Girls may not hit harder but they do hit lower. Now get off my ship. I'm done with this! I've lost more than half my crew. That's six more than I lost in my initiation training! You don't want to bring me to my last resort." He stands up with a wider spread stance.

"I will get you back for that..." I laugh and put a hand by my ear.

"Is that a woman or did you gain an octave?" He charges faster than expected so I dive to the black and red splatter painted deck.

Can I just say we had fun painting our first ship and be done with it?

Anyway, I feel the grinding of the almost broken arm of mine and gasp a sharp intake of air. He walks to me and I lay out flat, knowing that I was finished.  
If I continued to fight, him being my equal, I would completely drain myself, resulting in my subconsciousness turning my body into the unstable raccoon form and I would kill all the people on deck.

I'm better off dead...

I close my eyes and here the buzzing noise start up again. I hear an odd thud and something flying through the air then another thud or crash.  
I open my left eye and see Tanker shaking his fist, with his middle finger up, at the ass of the blond man. It take a minute to register what is going on.

Killer is... he's stuck in my wall... and his ass is on the outside, meaning he's halfway in my room. I tilt my head back and find a dragon Muton with a raised eyebrow.

"I love you." She huffs out her nose and some fire shoots out. She shakes like a dog after a bath and the arrows and swords fall to various places on the deck. "So nice of you to swoop by, Muton." I stand and pat my butt to disturb the dirt into a cloud. Seeing Killer almost out of the hole, Muton and I groan.

"I want you two to stay away. His blades could penetrate even your skin." She looks at me and I look down.  
"And I'm going to transform." She puffs fire and glares.

"_He made you that desperate? Damn, thought only I could do that._" I poke her between the eyes and raise an eyebrow.

"Only _**you**_ could. Until piss-pansy came around. He's this strong, just think about how strong his Senchou is." I remove my finger and she becomes uncross eyed.

"_In other words we would've been better off offering the boys for sacrifice and seducing them into making us slaves?_" I nod and scowl.

"Yup. Pretty much." Killer finally pops out of his hole and yells, spinning his scythes again and jumps from the top deck to the main deck. I walk toward him and lick my lips with a grin.  
"Ready for Round Two?" He cracks his neck and hums.

"We finished Round One?" I flex my fingers and pop my knuckles. I stare at him, my plan running through my head and put a devious look in my eyes. A laugh slips through my grin.

"You won that round. I highly doubt you can get me on the floor like that again, though." He cocks his head to the side.

"Oh? What makes you doubt me?" With a impossibly large grin, I crouch like a cat and mentally prepare myself. He steps back out of his battle stance as I grow to about eight feet on all fours and my skin rips to expose fur.

A giant raccoon soon stands before him. My drool splashes onto the deck and Killer steps back. Because of his reaction, I chuckle in my new demon-like voice.

"This." I trot towards him and he hops back, dodging my claws.

"What the hell ARE you?" I swipe a fast claw at his side and stomp him to the deck. As I push down harder, blood trickles from the holes where his mouth is. He must've spat out the blood when I crushed a couple ribs.

"I am the Teichou of the Yoruyonaka Pirates. My crew is made up of Merfolk and Zoan fruit users. I, myself, am a fruit user; I am the Araiguma of the Zoan Fruits." My eyes narrow and I growl.

"I am the Jougen-Jougen no Mi!" I lift my paw off him and my vision blurs and my head pulsates.

'_I'm back... Hehehehe!_' My body continues to attack Killer and only manages to knick him. I growl to myself as the male voice yowls in laughter.

* * *

persobn: Thank you for dealing with my stupid updating I will have four of these up and running.


	2. A Warning From A Worried Enemy

Chapter 2: A Warning From A Worried Enemy

* * *

Killer backs up more from my growing furry body as I raise a giant paw, ready to knock him into the water.  
"... fuck." Killer dodges my swipe and I let him, partly from my vision being about as fuzzy as I am, but mostly from the cold and dark voice chuckling in my head.

'_Let me take control! I'll do what you'll want me to!_" I shrink myself, undertaking a more human-like form, and grab my head.

"Yeah... you'll get rid of Killer... and everyone else!" I take a slice up the chest and cringe.  
"I won't stand to let that happen!" It chuckles again, menacing, maniacal, envious to my freedom. I take another hit from Killer and transform back, partially, into a human.

I squeeze my head between my hands again, failing to ease the pain.

'_I__t looks like you don't have much of a choice, Brat!_' The darkness consumes my mind and I scream in agony. Killer jumps back a few yards.

* * *

Killer stands by and watches the whole scene unfold before him. Muton lands close, but placed herself out of his reach.

"If you were wanting to continue your rookie pirate adventure you'd retreat. In her full form she is not stoppable by brute force. You should leave if you don't want your insides _**inside**_ her." She points at Tanuki nonchalantly. He nods at the little lively woman, but continues to stand, rooted to his spot.  
Seconds later, Muton gives him an awkward glance and puts a hand on her hip, shifting her weight to the other hip.

"Why are you still here?" Killer shrugs and turns his head toward her.

"I'm debating on which is worse, homicide or suicide." Muton laughs and jumps back a good distance from her Senchou; Killer takes it as a warning and also jumps back. With her accent apparent in her speech, she continues her reasoning.

"She isn't going to stop if **_he_** takes over and let me tell ya'! That eleven year old has one hell'ov a left hook. I'm sure Mr. **_Maniacal Giggles_** would be insulted if he thought you think she is scarier than him. Isn't that how dictatorship goes these days?" Obviously, he doesn't answer the strange question and he sighs.

"**_Eleven?_**" Muton waves him off as he runs then jumps from the railing of Tanuki's ship only to land blissfully on his.

"Damn, I was hopin' he'd fall." Muton watches the girl they consider a senchou in a hybrid sad/bored leer.

"Muton-fukuteichou!" She glances toward her nakama, who yelled in unison. Nogi, Nagi, Kinami, Zero and Haimei walk, or hobble, over to her. Zero is held up by the twins and Haimei leans on Kinami.  
Zero jerks his body off the twins and bows to Muton.

"I'm so sorry! I lost Frolar and Kagashima on their ship! They're gone, I'm sorry." Despite the overwhelming urge to cry and smack the crap out of the injured third-mate, Muton ruffles his hair with a sad smile. The ruffling taking most of the seriousness out of the conversation.

"You do know they both would be killin' you mentally if they saw this side of Zero right? Everyone would." He looks up at her by craning his neck, then he stands up a little straighter then how he walked over.  
"Just cause we lost many of our nakama does not mean that we can cry like little babies that drop their binki! No! Lesson today is; Shit Happens. Suck it up! Yeah, we all feel like curling up into a little ball and impersonating a fountain, but we can't do that because we have way too much crap to take care of. That monster of a fuzz ball being one of them! I'm not a public speaker so, yeah." Muton crosses her arms and Zero laughs, while the others snicker, now limply hanging off of 'Nagi'. He grins and chuckles about after his laughter.

"That's our Fukuteichou! Melody would have loved to-AAHH! Those're my ribs!" Zero looks at 'Nagi' with a twitching eye.

"Dude, hand up! Those're broken down there!" Next thing any of them know, Zero is laying back-up on the deck whining and groaning in pain. Nogi swiped her hands together and humphs.

"I'm not a dude! Ass-Biscuit..." Nagi stands on the opposite side of the fallen Zero, shaking his head.

"You're really banged up, Bro. I know Nogi's flat chested, well compared to Senchou and Kinami, but, damn! She ain't this tiny! I have like no pecks, Bro!" He helps Zero up and slings the limp man's arm over his shoulder, his hand in Zero's sweaty armpit much to the moose's displeasure. Kinami holds Haimei up and stares at the twins and Zero.

"So, why do you two have such, swapped names?" Nogi looks oddly at her.

"Whatawhoda?" Nagi rolls his eyes.

"Remember this is the last time I'm telling you! Mom was messed up and thought she had named us correctly. Dad got home and laughed. It didn't bother them so we didn't really think anything of it." Nogi glares and stomps her foot on the splatter painted deck.

"Mom was not messed up!" Nagi looks at her with a disbelieving look.

"Mom was crazy! She was a thirteen year old in a twenty six year old body! Who do you know that stacks the chairs on top of the table and does the dishes in the bath tub? We had a perfectly good kitchen sink, but she said she didn't wanna get it dirty! How is that normal? And, my dear sister, I think you inherited some of her psychotic nature." Nogi sticks her tongue and middle finger to her five minute older brother.  
"Point proven." Nogi snarls and roars.

"I'll kill you!" They all shake their heads at the twins. Muton hears a thud and looks to their new arrival. Her eyes widen and she stumbles a bit.

"Oh crap..."

* * *

"Get out! Get out! Gahhh! Out of my head, you bastard!" I grab my head and squeeze.

'_NEVER!_' I feel myself transforming, but the struggle is halted by recognizing a familiar presence. I look the person from bottom to top and the voice shrieks when the face comes into view. My mouth slacks and a fear wells up inside me that makes me want to puke.

"... Bartholomew... Kuma..." He lifts his hand and starts to take off his glove, to me it is like slow motion-painstakingly slow.

'_You can keep your body! Just don't fight him!_' I step back a few feet and pant.

"Stay back! How did you find us?! We didn't do anything wrong!" Lie. His face stays the same with the scowl. His glove is completely off and so is my courage. He thrusts a hand forward and my cheek stings suddenly. I touch it and look at my hand.

Blood.

I snarl and grab my duo of swords from my hips. Rocking back and forth, I run as quick as my legs will take me. As I approach Kuma, Muton reaches her arm out and runs forward, Kuma mumbles something to Muton. My enhanced hearing picking it up.

"If you were to go on a trip... where would you like to go?" The statement clear in my mind that I need to reach her before he does.

"TANUKI! MATTE! ST-!" In one slap my best friend was gone. I stop, my eyes wide in horror as my other nakama run toward me, to where Muton once stood.  
One by one they get slapped away. The twins are left and Nogi is being held back by Nagi, she screams so much that her voice is like static.

"NO! STOP! I WON'T LET YOU SEPARATE US ANYMORE! AREN'T YOU A SHICHIBUKAI SUPPOSE TO BE FORMER PIRATE CAPTAINS?! DON'T YOU KNOW HOW IT FEELS?! DID YOU EVEN CARE ABOUT YOUR CREW?!" All I can do is stare at Nogi and Nagi. I know it's rude not to cry, but I just can't. I stand like a statue feet behind where Bartholomew walks to my remaining crew, my anger taking control with each step he takes. I manage to get my voice just over a whisper.

"... don't touch them..." My voice fades, unheard, into the wind. Nagi looks at me then smiles and hugs his clinging sister tightly. Kuma swings and smacks the twins to wherever the hell he wanted. Biting a hole in my lip, I grip my hilts tighter and point one at his face.  
"BARTHOLOMEW!" He turns to me and slides his glove back on, politely holding his hand up to silence me.

"Before you raise your voice at me, I need to tell you why I'm here." I stop and grit my teeth, guarded.

"I DON'T GIVE A FUCKING _**FUCK**_ WHAT YOU ARE HERE FOR!" My throat burns and itches, but I can't cry... it shows weakness, it shows fear.

"I am here to punish you for betraying your father. I am to not harm you physically, but to give you displeasing discipline." I growl and stab a sword into the ground.

"Tell my **_father_** to shove it up his ass! I'm no little girl, so fight me like you've got the balls! My _**father**_ didn't care back then, so why now?" He just stands there then looks down at me.

"Your father wants to kill you himself." My eyes open wide again and I drop my sword, the metal clashing loudly onto the deck.  
With just a phrase, Kuma made me drop my guard and weapons, and my heart leapt to my throat and I felt like choking. I feel the tears pushing at my eyelids.

_I've shown** true fear**..._

"My... my father wants to... kill me?" Kuma impersonates a statue and I fall to my knees. My anger spikes up into pure rage and I punch my deck, making it bow and creak from the strain. I move my feet under me into a crouch. I wipe my face and get my glare on the best I could.

"Why the hell did they send YOU, anyway!? They couldn't have sent Boa? Hell, even the rookie Flamingo Flirt would be better! I despise you!" He steps passed me and I growl.

"This was an order. I wouldn't bother you if it were my choice." Still resuming my growl, I grab my swords and lunge at him.

"You always have a choice! All the other Shichibukai disobey orders! Even the Admirals! How do you think your Scum Peers got up so high?! It's not'll ice cream and lollipops! I don't know how YOU got the job, but it isn't easy working your way up the scale of publicity!" I continue to slice his legs and he continues his really slow steps. His walk is about average human speed, but he is twenty two feet tall!

"You still don't understand? I came to warn you, as well as give you my farewell. I agreed to let Dr. Vegapunk make me into a synthetic person. The experiment will start in the next year or two. I do believe he has blue prints for some kind of robot... of me. The robots and me will be programmed to find and terminate anyone with an active bounty or pose a threat. I wanted to separate your crew so they would take longer to find you. I sent them to islands they are familiar with. Do not regroup. This is a favor from Admiral Garp as well as Dragon." I freeze and blink.

"Jiji and Luffy's Oji? You know Dra-?!" A barrage of cannonballs explode my ship and my arms instinctively block my face. My luck on the verge of running dry, but I know that Kuma is already gone.

The blast throws me with parts of my ship and I, thankfully, land on a large enough plank to withstand my weight and still float. I see Kuma in the distance on a large, sinking remnant of the deck, he nods a goodbye and disappears. I scan for the ship which just signed its death wish.

When I find it I glare at it, hoping it will explode.

"Killer, I will not forgive this... Prepare your Senchou for my wrath..."

* * *

I cling tightly to the plank as the liquid Life-sucker sucks my energy out of my feet. Laying my head on my outstretched arms and assessed my situation.

"I'm going to die out here, Garp-Jiji..." Before I ate the fruit, I would have loved the gentle waves crashing against me and running up on the plank, maybe even find it relaxing. Now it's a different story. If I slide far enough off the plank I will get sucked in.

"What should I do... Dragon? Jiji?" Tears form, but refuse to fall off my drained lashes, I barely have enough energy to speak above a loud whisper.

_There is no way I'm going to live..._

* * *

**persobn: So someone asked why Kuma showed up _after _the fight, well I thought It wouldn't be too hard to figure out but I guess I'm not good at the context cluing. He showed up afterward so that he wouldn't have to deal with the pirates, from my POV it seems like Kuma is kinda tactical about that and/or he's just lazy like that. And starting with chapter five I'm going to start to post the Q & A so please Q and I will A as good as I can. And sometime, my bff HappyDragon97 will be posting the Muton POV of this story. And I'll warn you all now, I will be having a timeskip soon because a dragged out scenario would begin to get gruesome so bare with me. "Every story starts out boring." -My sister.  
**


	3. Courtesy

Chapter Three: Courtesy

In a submarine closing in to the remnants of the Yoruyonaka pirate ship, a couple men accommodate a room full of buttons levers and screens.

A few bumps of something hitting the sub perk both men's ears up.

The seated man suddenly slacks his jaw after looking to the window.

"Teichou..." A tall man with a grinning Jolly Roger on the front of his shirt hums and looks to the shorter man sitting at the controls with a black hat and a red Pom Pom adorning the top of the red eared article.

"You might wanna see this..." The tan man with the Jolly Roger walks over to the navigator, leaning onto the back of the chair. They both stare at the mess of a girl.

Her light colored hair floats above her sinking body with red swirls of a fluid being casted off the strands. Her fishnet shirt moving around in the water currents exposing her tightly filled undershirt that stopped below her bust and her loose knee length brown shorts, with a belt made of strips of leather with the entrails being attached to a variety of multi-colored feathers, hanging dangerously on her hips.

"She's... barefoot?" The Senchou stares in awe along with his crew mate, so much so that neither of them realize the third person enter the room and walk behind them.

"Teichou, Teamer. Lunch is... GODDESS! Oh FUCK! We hit a Goddess!" Teamer, the suspected navigator, waves at the redhead, in sunglasses and a faded green and red casquette hat, hitting him lightly in the face. The two are mesmerized, in awe.

The waves move a certain appendage from behind the girl that puts the tall man on edge.

"Surface." Teamer turns to his Teichou with confusion, but does as ordered.

The whole crew stands on the deck of the yellow sub. The Teichou stands leaning on the railing.

"Go get her." A man in a penguin shaped hat steps forward and strips off the boiler suit and boots.

He stands in his white wife-beater and boxers; he pulls off his hat, revealing messy, jaw length, white hair with a pale purple hue.

He runs and dives over with a battle cry.

"GODDESS!" The tall man watches impatiently, waiting for his crew mate and the female to surface.

After a minute or so the redhead gets concerned-a little.

"Should someone go help him?" The Teichou looks at him and jerks his head to the ocean.

"Go." The ginger strips and wears the same outfit but no shirt and different color boxers.

"Why was Shachi and Penguin the only volunteers?" The man with a slight Irish accent and chefs hat rubs his neck nervously.

"Well, you see, most of us aren't wearin' undergarments. Since we would most likely sink quickly with 'em boiler suits on..." The Senchou nods and looks to the bubbles in the water, suddenly replaced by three people.

"Teichou! We've got her!" He relaxes a small amount and turns to the others. He may be a pirate, but he is also a doctor, not too old, but still a doctor.

"Get them up here but do not bring her inside until I say she's okay." A bear in an orange jumpsuit walks behind the Teichou carrying a nodaichi.

"Do you think she's part of this ships crew?" The Teichou shoves his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.

"Considering she had blood and ripped clothing, I'm almost positive." The bear stands beside the Teichou as they stand by the metal door and out of the way.

The man knows she is no ordinary woman. No matter how cruel and heartless of a pirate he is, his view of a drowning girl as a doctor are brought before anything. The bear is confused and concerned about his friend and Teichou.

"Why? You wouldn't even stop for hitting a drowning man. So why this girl?" The man only scowls deeper.

"Bepo, she is a fairly young girl. No I wouldn't of stopped for a man. Gender preference I suppose." The bear again looks towards the men pulling on ropes.

"I thought it was just because she was pretty. Sorry." The man chuckles and smirks.

"That was reason number three." The bear raises a brow muscle at his Teichou. Bepo follows the Teichou with his eyes as the two men get dried off and into their respective clothing.

"I wonder what the other reason was..." Bepo joins his Teichou's side and observes the female.

"Trafalgar-Senchou, who do you think she is?" He shoves her side with his boot and rolls her onto her front. The men onboard gasp at the striped tail that was sprouting from her tailbone.

"I already knew." Law kneels and moves her sopping wet hair around, above where her ears would be. He moves one strip of hair as the crew waits in anticipation. He moves another and another. Still nothing happened then he moved down close to where her ear should be and sifts through the blonde locks. He reaches and move a piece of hair and a furry, wet appendage pops up and slaps against his arm.

He smirks and notices the bluish hue to the grey fur.

"Fish up her flag and try to find some of her clothes. She's going to be hard to stitch up alone. Brodie, Shachi, bring her to the infirmary. When you get her belongings, Penguin, bring them too." Penguin, Shachi and Brodie, the doctor's main assistant, rush to the orders.

"Senchou, who is she?" Law stops and pulls the paper from his back pocket. He smack it in his palm and a poster popped out. He unrolls the tan poster and holds the top of it.

"Men, meet the "Ignition" of the pirate world. Kodawara D. Tanuki, the rumored granddaughter of the Marine Admiral Akainu.

She's the Senchou of one of the craziest crews on the road to One Piece. She was the power behind the seventy member crew of animalistic men and women. She's worth a plentiful bounty for just being the rogue daughter of Amerellda Gold.

She's dangerous, but also she's a very kind-hearted woman.

She only brings judgment upon those who do wrong. She is definitely carrying marine blood. When she wakes up don't provoke her." Law kneels and slips his arms under her knees and behind her shoulder blades. But before she leaves the deck she opens her eyes and snarls, wrinkling her nose and her tail fur spikes.

She tackles him and pins his shoulders.

She wags her tail against the metal blade and her face falls a little. Law scowls and grabs her neck, pushing her up to a straighter position.

She felt sweat go down the side of her face and she gulps, feeling the sharp blade of the nodachi slicing the material of her shorts.

"If you don't move, I won't cut you." She nods and he slides out from under her. She stays frozen and stands after Law signals her to.

They walk a few steps and she falls to the floor. Law looks over his shoulder at her and sighs; knowing from her ruby red cheeks and her panting lets him know that she's running a high fever. If it wasn't raining he probably would have noted her sweating to.

"Bring her to the infirmary." Bepo looks to Penguin, who looks to Shachi, who looks to Baren, who sighs and grabs the girl's arm and lifts her up. He drapes her arms over his shoulders and her head rests on his shoulder as he wears her like a cape.

"What a way to carry a woman." Bepo laughs and the two hatted men turn with a gasp.

"How dare you! That is not how you treat women!" Shachi lifts the girl off of Baren and puts her onto Penguin's back. Penguin's face goes red and his mouth opens in glee.

"Ahhh~" Shachi pouts and follows behind Penguin, who is enjoying the firm bust against his back a little too much.

"Don't molest our guest too much or she'll wake up. And don't think I'll stop her from what she'll do to you. I'm a saint compared to what she's did to some people." The two men gulp and look at each other with a frightened look.

In the infirmary there are three persons, one being our heroine and the others being the medics, Trafalgar Law and Brodie.

The female is covered with blankets and is bare under the covers; Law and Brodie had to rid her of her sopping wet, salt water covered attire.

Her long blonde hair is pulled over to one side and is being combed through with long tattooed fingers that tend to style the long hair into a braid.

Do not get his intentions mixed; the hair can't be all over the place.

Brodie snickers and covers his mouth, earning a pointed look from Law.

"What is so funny?" Brodie's composure falls past his stomach. He rubs the back of his neck with an awkward face. His mouth is pointed in a strange angle, up towards his eyes.

Law narrows his eyes and gets up to fetch the medical supplies. But as he passes Brodie, Law knocks Brodie over the head. Brodie, in turn, crouches and furiously rubs his aching head.

"A person loses seventy five hairs a day. She is a devil fruit user and her hair is soaked with sea water. She'd be drained of all her energy and die if a strand were to get in the incision." Brodie stands and sniffles.

"Hai. Law-senchou. But you did look very..." Law glares at him and nothing else is uttered from Brodie's pie hole. Law slides on his gloves and pulls down the covers, his jaw slacks and Brodie passes out.

"These lacerations... How are you even alive?" He looks at a particularly large gash running from her side across her stomach to her hip. Something sizzles in the wound and Law jumps up.

"Brodie! Masks! Quickly!" Brodie jumps up and scrambles over to the table and throws a mask to Law. Brodie covers his face with the mask and jogs over to Law.

"Teichou? What's wrong?" Law grabs the alcohol and Brodie follows him over to Tanuki.

"Hold her." Brodie grabs her arm and leg, unaware of Law's look; the little bit he held would not work.

Law grabs a cloth and starts to pour the disinfectant on the wound. Tanuki sits up and screams; Brodie attempts to push her back down and she snaps at him.

"You mortal fool! You think you can hold me down and torture me? Ha! You would be dead if I could release myself from this useless child's body!" She-"it" looks to Law.

"Your body is defiled! Not acceptable! You will burn!" It looks back to Brodie and continues with that demonic male voice.

"You seem like a suitable vessel. Say what, you kill-" Law knocks it in the back of the head and it fell back down on the bed. Brodie shivers as he looks at Law with gratitude.

"Why... What just happened?" Law sits down and shrugs.

"Not sure but whatever it was knows too much about us. Our personal lives, at least." He furrows his brows and ponders what the male demonic voice came out of.

Little girls can't have demonic male voices, can they?


	4. Herci

Chapter 4: Herci

"Wake up, you worthless mortal!" I groan and sniff the air, a habit I have proved useful in the past few months. The smells are different and smell of the salt of the liquid death and also a strong scent stinging my nose, the same smell that my parent had when he and okaa-san went out together. I flinch to try and get my limbs moving.

"How long was I out? Herci." He sighs and hums.

"After they knocked me...well, you in the head, I haven't been able to see what's been going on. There is, however, a man on this vessal that you are to stay away from. He is defiled! I do not accept his presence." He gets fired up as I try to move my eye lids. To no success, I lay there and listen to the perpetual bitching taking place in my sub-conscience.

After a few minutes, he shuts up and growls.

"I heard that, you whore!" I grin to myself and try to roll my eyes.

"You had the choice to leave, Hercina." A snarl is added to his growls, a smirk that imaginably gets bigger, is also.

"Herci! Herci, I am a male, you cat!" I lose my grin and try to furrow my brows and fail.

"Hey, I'm a raccoon. Hints Tanuki. Gods, for a God you sure are stupid!" The night around us starts to lighten and the voice bitching at me fades. My eyes try to flutter themselves and fuzzy vision envelopes me. I see a lightly colored shape then a darker one with a lighter spot on the chest cavity. I adjust my eyesight and look to the burning scent.

The tall man before me was hot... No other way to say it. This man has the beginnings of a chin patch and medium side burns. He was more tan than most, but his bright grey eyes showed pictures of a winter island. His eyes looked alert but had barely noticeable bags starting to form.

I looked to the other man and regarded him as the runt. He was mediocre in the attributes that meant little to me, or the ones I just named on the other man, I care about skill, smarts and tactics. All part of being a teichou, I guess.

Wait, teichou...?

"FUCK ME!" My body flings itself into an upright position, immediately regretting the decision. My side aches, my muscles twitch and my arms catch my shoulder where that scythe lady managed to stab me... with a cheap shot.

The two men stepped back when I sat up, they now stare at me with confusion... and humor? The one in the knit cap laughs and his belly is held by his anxious hands.

"I guess she's really thankful, Law-senchou!" He laughs again and I put my head down, obscuring my eyes from view. I concentrate on the little piece of trash. My mouth opens and my drool drips onto my chin, my fingers come to my mouth and the saliva coats them.

I retract my hand and bring it to my shoulder with a small twist of my lame body.

"Yo dare peretto..." I throw my arm across the image of the boy. The boy stops laughing and hits the floor roughly, kicking and screaming in pain. His side starts to seep blood through his boiler suit and the man called Law runs over to him, neither of them knowing that I performed the heinous act.

Law gets the guy up and sits him against the wall after they stripped his chest of the top half of the suit, letting the rest hang. Law inspected the wound and saw the drool sliding out of the holes.

He obviously doesn't know as much about my abilities as he claims, does he?

"Kawauso. Can you dress yourself while I take care of our guest?" Brodie nods and adds a sharp intake of air to his struggle to force himself up. They get up and Kawauso walks to the farthest table from me, but Law walks straight toward me and I gulp. Powerless to him, I jump off the table and grab the shorts on top the pile of wet clothes, the shorts being my black short-like underwear. Sliding the shorts on, I cringe when my feet hit the floor and start to push to run, my foot slips and I catch myself on one knee. Law walks to my side of the table and with every step he takes I scoot closer to the wall. When he gets to where I have my foot on the wall behind me. He steps once more and I switch from helpless to a giant grin. Pushing myself off the wall, I quickly run past Law, who mumbles something, and stand at the door. I stop while looking at it and turn back to Law.

But before I can get a word out, I see him sheathing his large nodachi. I didn't even realize he had that with him...

My eyes widen as he walks closer and I can't move. Did he treat me to just kill me...?

"Sakazuki-ya, today was not the day to injure one of my crew. I would've been more cautious to allow you in here, but you were submerged in sea water and I thought you'd at least behave." I hit the floor and look over to the door. My eyes pop out of my head and I scream as loud as I can.

I "sit" on the operating table while my lower half sits on the other operating table. Law fixes his crew mate while I'm staring in shock at my ass. He wraps up Kawauso's stitches and sighs. He takes off his gloves and tosses them. He walks toward me and hooks his foot around a rolling stool and kicks it to my table in which I shriek.

"Shit! What the fuck? Are you trying to make me shit myself?" He smirks and jabs his thumb over across the room. I look to my ass and depression hits me so hard.

"I didn't even startle that half. So, tell me Sakazuki-ya why did I hit you with my ship?" I glare at him and throw my hands up.

"How the fuck should I know why you hit me with your ship, piss-biscuit! Maybe you should ask the butt-munch navigator." He shakes his head and stands up, walking to my lower body.

"You are too young to be a pirate. Albeit, you do have some interesting powers, but do you think that you can defend yourself from a pirate like me? I can cut people without being near them. Do you think they'll take it easy on a little girl?" I growl and throw my arm.

"What do you know!? You have no idea what the fuck I've been through! All I wanted was a family that wouldn't leave my side! I wanted it how it used to be! But everything was taken from me, again! Like Sabo, like okaa-san, like Nabi! Why the fuck do you think I gathered over fifty people to join my crew? I had them so that even if a few left, then I'd still have someone there..." Law and Kawauso have faces of pity and contemplation, the exact things that I runaway from. confusion hits as to why I sit here and tell a complete stranger what's on my mind. Law turns back to my ass and grabs its ankle. Hoisting it over his shoulder, he carries my ass over to me. I twitch and look away from him. He tosses my ass on the table by me and lifts a hand in front of him, palm down.

"Room." A blue hue encompasses us and he points his hands towards me. "Shambles." My body floats, both parts, and he connects them back together. Thanks, Ass-biscuit...

"I'll let you stay on this ship as long as I don't see another one of my subordinates hurt. And you will not call me "Piss-biscuit" again, understood?" I shift and stretch my legs and jump off the table, the use of my legs a feeling of bliss.

"Not really, Butt-munch." He spins around and glares at me.

"What did I just tell you?" I grin and shift my weight to one hip.

"I didn't call you "piss-biscuit" now, did I, ass-biscuit?" He growls and I hurry out the door as quick as I can. This will be one hellova ride...


	5. Recovery

5 - Recovery

* * *

Time passes slowly as I start to recover bit by bit. Periodically, Law comes in to examine my wounds and chat with me about what happened. He seems to be skilled in physical and mental healing, but I doubt he is trying on the latter.

He just sits and asks a simple question and I open up about the battle, my nakama, the losses. He just sits there and listens connecting the info and figuring it all out.

A knock on the door startles me from my thinking. I look quickly to the metal door and wait for the person to come in. I figure it's Law on one of his routine "make sure you're not up to something" check ups, but when a skittish voice speaks on the other side I am highly confused.

"U-um... Tanuki-ya?" Blinking, I feel my mouth open a bit inquisitively.  
"You must b-be asleep. I'll leave... Sorry to bother you..." I sigh and look at the ceiling from my seated position.

"What do you want?" The white bundle I expected was there, but was a little under four feet off the ground instead of up higher where Law's normally is.  
Furry ears peek around the door then the small, black eyes of the bear cub appear.

"Umm... Do you want some...some company? Captain sent me to ask 'cause ...'cause..." He stops and I cross my arms over chest.

"Spit it out!" I growl and he shakes in response. He steps more into the room and holds the hatch with on hand, the other shyly in a fist by his mouth.

"He said you lost your friends... I asked if I could...be your new one." I go from biting my lip to my jaw hanging open and I feel like crying. I can't cry now!

"...I...I don't know..." He puts his head down and turns to go out of the room but I sigh, "I don't know what to say..." He looks back at me and perks up again, a new fire burning in his eyes. My arms lift out of the blankets and I look away from him with my arms open, my face getting red.

"You'll really let me?" I growl and close my eyes.

"Close the door. Shut up. C'mere and cuddle." He shuts the hatch and his feet make funny noises on his jog over. He jumps onto the bed and I hug him to me.  
He's so cute.

I sit up straight and I bet I have a dumbass facial expression.  
"...cute?" He looks up at me then to the side.

"Excuse me." I bop him on the head and glare.

"Don't excuse yourself like you just farted! That's going to annoy me. When someone calls you cute you tell them, "You bet your sweet ass I'm cute. I'm fucking adorable!". You gettin' it?" He grins and I see his black lips and white teeth contrasting greatly. I lift him toward me a little and scoot into the covers more, covering him as well. Resting my eyes, I think about everything that's happened and wonder if everything will turn out ok.

* * *

"Tanuki-ya?" I hum in response and scratch in back of his ear.  
"Why do you hate Captain so much, but tell him a bunch about you?" My jaw clenches and I stop scratching him. I slowly open my eyes and stare at him.

"You're very curious,..." He blinks then gasps.

"It's Bepo." Narrowing my eyebrows, I blink and continue.

"Bepo. But I guess it's just how I feel him-shit, um, it's how my body reacts around him-" I slap my face and curse to myself.  
"I sense his type, I guess. It's difficult to explain." Bepo looks up at me and blinks.

"So, it's how you perceive him to be?" I give him a stupid look and narrow my eyebrows.

"The hell's 'hat mean?" After a minute of just staring at me blankly, Bepo curtly places a paw on my forehead and hums.

"You don't have a fever... Did you hit your head off of anything recently?" My face contorts into something stupid and I make a noise that wasn't human.

"The hell? Did you not remember your damn yellow ship-thing knocking me into the watery death of the deep?" Something in my brains triggers and I snap a glare at him.  
"The hell are you meaning by that?" He looks down and closes his eyes.

"Excuse me." My fist instantly knocks him on the head. His paws hold his head and tears start to form in his eyes.  
"I'm sorry." I sigh and close my eyes; Bepo and I get comfortable again. Speak of the devil, he's right outside the room.

Since the light was already off when Bepo came, it was difficult to see the hatch across the room, but staring towards the source of the warm smell was generally the same thing.  
Bepo moves in his sleep and I jump a bit, forgetting he's there.

"Captain's a good guy...he saved me... He'll save you, too..." I curiously look at him and think about what he said, not really realizing the warm scent's departure.  
I hope you're right, Bepo... 'Cause I could use the saving...

* * *

Drowsily, I open my eyes after rubbing the sleep away. Pulling the blackest off me, I shiver.

"Urghhh!" I groan and curl myself up under the blankets once more. My head ducks under the blanket until I realise I'm not able to go back to sleep, so I get up and walk out the door. My feet padding across the metal floor is the only noise until I reach the next room.

The room is occupied by eight men total, including Bepo, although, there is a guy that pokes his head through a curtain to yell at a couple ornery crew mates. I rub my eye and walk in, forgetting that the only articles of clothing I'm allowed to wear is my shorts and the bandages Law dressed me in yesterday. Trust me, it's difficult thinking of how used to him seeing me naked I am.  
I rub my neck and walk further into the mess hall, in my underwear and bandages, trying to locate the boy that treats me. I finally smell him out, he's in the back corner of the room, shrouded by the morning scents of the other males in the crew.

Once I reach him I sit in a chair that's bolted to the floor. My pink eyes glare daggers through him and he just boredly stares back.

"When can I leave?" He shrugs and closes his eyes.

"You can leave whenever you feel like it." Although he said this truthfully, I eye him suspiciously, knowing that there's more to it than just that.

My stomach interrupts my thoughts and I hold my stomach.

"What's for breakfast?" Law just looks at me and he shakes his head, his crew mate, with double revolvers in cross holders on his butt, answers quite rudely.

"First, we harbor you and treat you without a thanks and now you're mooching off our food, too?" Law smirks and I glare at the douche, wringing my hands at my sides.

"Kujira, take her to get some food to eat. And Tanuki-ya," I cross my arms and stare at him to hear his next fucking order, "don't hurt another one." I roll my eyes with a sigh and Kujira starts to walk, but not to the kitchen. He's going to the hall I came from. He stops at a door and runs a hand through his grey hair that goes down to his chin. He sighs and I focus on his speech instead of how wavy and curly his hair is. He glances at me from the side and closes his eyes with yet another sigh.

"A cat, great." My head tilts back and sideways as he enters the room.  
I make a funny face at him and raise an eyebrow.

"Cat?" He points to my head without looking at me.

"You're a fruit user, right? You have cat ears growing where your ears should be." He continues to dig in the pantry type room. I finally have the audacity to peer in to see the room and as I do, a large clash is heard from him. I jog over to him with a grin and pick up a bunch of the pans and older cookware that fell on him.

"I'm not a cat, but it helps to turn the light on, right?" He shakes his hair out and stands up, I reach over and pull the chain hanging from the light. The light bounces onto everything in the room and he stands. Something rolls to his feet and he picks it up.

"Hey, soup. Cool." He shoves his hands in his pockets and we walk back to the mess hall and into the curtained off kitchen.


	6. Orders of Payment

6 - Orders of Payback

* * *

"Clean the mess hall, the latrines and the kitchen. Stay away from the boiler rooms, you don't need in there. Don't wander into unknown parts of the sub, because no one will care to find you until you start smelling too bad." I give Kujira a dull look and slump over.

"_Thanks_." He sighs and looks at the ceiling.

"Yeah, well, you're new. Someone needs to help make the crew initiation. Oh, you may want to pull back your mop before getting started." For some reason, over the last few weeks I have known Kujira, I have noticed that he shakes a lot when we are under water for a while, and also, he seems to not talk to anyone other than Law and myself. He'll throw a nod to some of the other crew, but that's really all unless he needs to answer a question.

A snapping in front of me brings me back to reality, which I am staring right at Kujira.

"Not that you're freaking me out, but is it really healthy to stare that long without blinking?" He flicks his fingers and brings them back to his side. My ears twitch as I remember someone else doing that same movement.

"Kuji?" He hums and looks back at me with both hands in his pockets.

"Do you smoke?" He smirks a little and chuckles.

"You noticed that, huh? Sharp. Yeah, I have been since I was a kid." I raise an eyebrow at him and shake my head.

"Does it hurt you to be underwater?" He furrows his eyebrows and looks up again.

"It doesn't hurt. It's just like having an itch that doesn't go away." I stare and purse my lips.

"That'd hurt me." He smirks and hit me in the shoulder in a split second.

"Do you have a tie? For your hair." I look around, thinking. I shake my head in a no. He sighs and puts up his hand and signals me closer. He grabs one shoulder and angles me so my back's facing him. I feel fingers in my hair and they comb through and catch many of the knots.

"How do you know how to do stuff with hair? You wear a hat all the time." He begins at the right side of my head just above my ear and starts to do a very tight braid that just feels like he's pulling every hair on my head.

"Hey, you're normal again. Well, I grew up as the oldest of seven kids, being the only boy, I had to find some way to amuse myself, so I had them teach me to do hair." I glance back and he punches the side of my head to keep it looking straight.

"That's it? Geez, what're you doin' anyway?" He chuckles at my childishness.

"That's it. And it's called a French waterfall braid, I think. It goes all the way around your head, which is good for you because you have so much hair. I'm also doing it because it only needs a couple of these to keep it up." I see his elbow out of the corner of my eye and look to the small black folded wire type objects hanging from his lips like cigarettes.

"So, you're only doing it cause you don't have a tie either, huh?" He sighs and closes his eyes with a yank of my head to, yet again, straighten it.

"Will you just look goddamned straight? I'm doing this for your benefit, so cooperate." I blink and cross my arms then, after thinking about that word, I toss my hand to the side.

"What's that word mean?" He makes a choking noise and pulls my hair a bit harder.

"What are you, _stupid_?" I scoff and make an awkward sneeze noise. We both just kinda stand there staring.

"What the hell was that?"

"That, my dear _Ass-roll_, was a sneezing eleven year old." He jumps back a bit and I don't hear him say anything.

"So, you're only eleven?" I nod and he sighs.

"_Great_, now I have to tell them we're fucking perverts." I furrow my eyebrows and purse my lips.

"Should I even ask?" He sighs -which he tends to do a lot- and continues braiding without saying another word.

* * *

I wipe my brow of sweat with my arm. The bathrooms, or latrines as Ass-roll called them, are near the boiler rooms. At least that's what it feels like! I stand up and throw the mop to the floor.

"I'm too fucking hot to be fucking doing this shitty cleaning shit!" I hear that dumbass, but partly attractive, chuckle from the man behind the crew initiation. He steps forward into the room and shoves his hands in his pockets with a nod of his head.

"Good work. We have surfaced, go take a break, cool off and whatever. Be careful, we're in the middle of the ocean." With that he walks out and I run after him.

"Hey, _Ass-biscuit_!" I run, but trip only a few feet from him. Luckily, because I do believe there was something thrown at me, plus he's growling.

"Ow, _dammit_." I stand up and jog to him.

"What?" His tone was everything but happy. Pfft, like that means anything to me.

"I wanted to ask this for awhile now, but I haven't really seen anyone for that while. Why do you guys sail, or ride, in a big yellow submarine?" He looks as if he ignores me, but starts humming in thought.

"Hmm, I guess I hate being apart of a trend. It's kind of like you girls with your fashion statements, this is my statement." I look at him again and notice how young he looks.

"Why are you sailing around while you're so young?" He closes his eyes as we start up the metal stairs to another hatch.

"Says the eleven year old." I tilt my head to then fro and nod.

"Touché." He pushes open the agape hatch and I shield my eyes with my hand. He walks on, but I stop with the appearance of the scenery.

I wander out onto the deck and start laughing, earning awkward, freaked out stares from the men.

"I have never seen the sea look so pretty! Gods, it's _gorgeous_!" Law leans on the railing and smirks, understanding why I'm excited.

He probably figured it out when I told him about my crew, I had so many people that checking _everything_, worrying about _everything_ and getting attacked by _everything,_ never gave us a chance to see the sea in this light.

"Thought you deserve at least this much, Tanuki-_Teichou_." Little did I know that would be the first, and last, time hearing my name addressed as captain after the destruction of my crew.


End file.
